We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kayla Rorie . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kayla below.

Kayla , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

4 The Culture Bakery dedicates sweet treats to everything celebrating black culture. As a black owned business, we are simply creating a fun space to shine a light on the accomplishments, creativity, and overall excellence of important black figures and black culture. It is a fun way to educate and indulge in conversation while enjoying a sweet treat! My dream is to open a storefront location and cover the walls with information about people, places, and things all in relation to black culture.

Kayla , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I created this business about 5 years ago. I enjoyed baking but, I wanted to figure out a way to make my desserts standout a little. What makes my cupcakes different from any other bakery? So, I decided to name them after people, places, and things related to black culture. At first, I thought about having a pop culture theme and I came up with a few cute names with puns. Then I realized, I could just name my items after black artists in pop culture. Then I thought, why stop there? Figure out other black artists from different generes and include them as well. Then I just spiraled away from music and decided to just include black culture as a whole. I hope that customers will enjoy their treats and also take the time to learn about who or what their cupcake is named after. There is much more to learn than I can describe within the short space I have on my website.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The biggest lesson I had to unlearn is thinking that everyone will love my product as much as I do. I may think an order came out perfectly and find it to be beautiful-yet a customer may have a different opinion. I used to be really hard on myself if someone expressed dissatisfaction with an order. Thanks to the advice my cousin gave me, I had to realize that if I have 100 customers and only 99 are happy, I cannot allow that one person to discourage me and give up on myself. I can take the criticism, learn from it and become better. It doesn’t mean that I am not good at what I do or that my business is a failure. You WILL NOT have happy customers 100% of the time. No one does. All you can do is give your best effort every time and grow from your mistakes.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing my clientele is teaming up with another business that correlates with mine. I team up with a party planning business quite often and that has helped me tremendously. Making connections with others who can bring clientele has been a huge help. She provides the decor and puts everything together while I provide the party treats. It works both ways because I develop new clients and she has a reliable connection for party treats, which is always a necessity when it comes to parties. Everyone loves a beautiful dessert table! Teaming up with another business such as a party planner, restaurant, or anywhere that would benefit from providing your treats is a big help.

Contact Info:

• Website: 4theculturebakery.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/4theculturebakery
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100047634133236

Image Credits
Mariana K.